Recognition of a lifetime in the metals business for Target Steel founder

Valentino Simone (right), president of Target Steel Inc., sits with Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA) President and CEO Ed Youdell (left). For his success and leadership in the metals distribution and processing industry, the Association of Steel Distributors, an affiliate of the FMA, named Simone the winner of its 2023 Steel Executive of the Year Award. He was honored at a dinner during the FMA Annual Meeting, Feb. 28-March 2, in Las Vegas. Photo: Sara Spring

On this particular morning, Valentino Simone, president, Target Steel Inc., has just come straight from a workout. He's coming off knee replacement surgery, and he's trying to get back to the point where he can put that new joint to good use.

But after his workout, he's ready for the call. He's in the office because that's where he has spent many of his waking hours since he started Target Steel in 1988.

"My day starts early, and I’m the last one to leave. Yeah. But that's just my work ethic. That's the way I am," he said. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

That work ethic has led to a metals distribution and processing business that now consists of seven facilities and just under 400 employees. (This includes Target Metal Blanking, which has acquired three Midwest processing facilities in the past couple of years, the most recent being the former Michigan Steel Processing facility in New Boston, Mich.) Metal Center News placed the company at No. 30 on its list of Top 50 service centers in North America. That's not too bad for someone who started out with $250 in his pocket, one shear, and one forklift.

For his success and leadership in the metals distribution and processing industry, the Association of Steel Distributors, an affiliate of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA), named Simone the winner of its 2023 Steel Executive of the Year Award. He was honored at a dinner during the FMA Annual Meeting, Feb. 28-March 2, in Las Vegas.

Simone is an energetic character and was willing to speak with The FABRICATOR. During this discussion, we get to learn more about him, his life in the metals industry, and the company he's built along with his family and co-workers. An edited discussion follows.

The FABRICATOR: The story about you starting Target Steel in 1988 on a shoestring budget and in a 4,000-sq.-ft. building is incredible, but how much experience did you have before that happened? How did your prior work experience prepare you to strike out on your own?

Valentino Simone: I worked for other people before that. For almost 10 years, I worked for other steel service centers. I actually started as a shear operator at Voigt Steel. That was in around 1979.

One thing led to another, and I went to work for another service center that was doing batch pickling. I learned about that. I ran the lab. I learned how to run a spectrometer and do chemical testing.

Then I started processing sales for that company. After a couple of other stops where I managed operations and did some sales, I worked for Namasco. I was handling offshore buys for them and dispatching steel that was coming in.

Valentino Simone

Then I got an opportunity to go work for National Metal Shearing, which was a Meridian Steel company. I ran a shear house for those guys for three years and was the vice president there.

Then I had a friend of mine in the industry, and he said, "Hey, when you get sick of doing the corporate stuff, you want to start your own company? I have a 4,000-sq.-ft. building, one shear, and one high-lo, and we can start a little company."

I thought about it for a year. My daughter was two at the time, and my son was on the way. After a while, I said, "OK. Let's try it."

So I said, "What do I have to do to start this?" My friend told me to give him $250 for a checking account. That's how it all started.

FAB: Did you have any idea that you’d end up on this career path, or did you just take advantage of what was before you?

Simone: I just learned at every position I was in. I got to know people and developed relationships and friendships with people in the industry.

When I was with Meridian Steel's National Shearing, I got to know a lot of owners of different service centers. A lot of those people supported and trusted me. They supported me before I had a bank line.

Things got off to a good enough start that I ended up buying my partner out after seven months.

That's when I leased a a 6,000-sq.-ft. building. We had two shears and two high-los. It was awesome.

And right about that time is when my younger brother Mike came to work for Target. He's been a valuable asset for the company.

Now we have seven locations, so we've expanded quite a bit. It's been quite a growth pattern, especially in the last three years.

FAB: What do you think a younger version of yourself, maybe that 30-year-old version with $250, would say if he saw what you have accomplished?

Simone: He’d probably ask, "How in the hell did you do it?"

Over the years, we were working a lot of hours, and we were there all the time.

Trust me. There were some struggles. I had a small bank line with the National Bank of Detroit, which is now part of JP Morgan Chase. They have supported me from the beginning. I won't ever leave them.

FAB: One of the amazing things about Target Steel is that it has never laid off employees. Why is it important for you to maintain your workforce even when the economy might make it difficult to do so?

Simone: We strive for that because even through the pandemic when we didn't have work, we kept everybody on. There were times that we had to take pay cuts, but we ended up giving the money back to our employees.

So, yes, we are committed to our employees. We pay 100% of their health insurance. They have dental insurance and 401(k) [plans]. I mean, this is a family-owned company, and I think of everybody as family here.

I can't do this by myself. Without the team that I have surrounding me, Target Steel would not exist.

I’m fortunate that my younger brother came aboard. He's been invaluable.

And now my son's involved. He's been with us [since] after he graduated from college. My daughter's got a WBE [women-owned business enterprise] that's part of our organization. My nephews work here as well. I mean, it's truly a family company.

I treat all of the employees like family too. It means so much to me. It sounds corny at times, but I truly feel that way.

FAB: Do you think Target Steel's ability to retain its employees over the years has given it a competitive edge, especially given how hard it is to find skilled labor?

Simone: You’re absolutely right. We strive to keep our employees satisfied and make it so others want to join the company as well.

Looking at the average age of most executives in this field, you would think that they were probably in their mid-50s. Back when I came aboard, I was one of the young guys, but there was a lot of young guys, honestly.

So we’ve tried to get younger people interested in this business. We’ve gone to the school systems, and we bring in young men and women as interns every year. We try to encourage them to go in the plants, even if they want to be a salesperson. Go look at what we do and find out what our equipment does. With seven locations, we can do just about anything in our facilities. So for young people, there's a lot of opportunity in the service center business.

FAB: As you look back on your career in the steel industry, how would you describe it?

Simone: It's been a whirlwind for us. We actually have been very conservative with our expansions as we went along. During that time, we developed relationships with not only the customers, but also with the steel mills. Those friendships have flourished over the years.

These relationships mean something. For example, we don't go in and make a commitment to a steel mill and then next year say, "Screw you. We’re going to Joe Blow to save a nickel." Our relationships with the mills have developed to the point where we live up to our commitments. When the markets take these big ol’ swings, we’re still taking our steel, and they recognize that. We end up working together.

FAB: From your perspective, what have been the biggest changes over the years in the metals industry?

Simone: In the last five years, we’ve seen some remarkable changes. If you think about the material and all the different specs, it's something that you have to stay on top of regularly. For example, we once had a hot-rolled, pickled-and-oiled, commercial-quality drawing steel, now you have a dual-phase grade and all of these other grades. It really takes a concerted effort to really understand.

Another thing is that social media is really changing the industry. Social media has been huge for us. Being on LinkedIn and even Facebook, we pick up customers. So that's changing our industry.

FAB: Do you still enjoy the business?

Simone: I wouldn't have it any other way. I’m 64 years old, and everybody's going, "When are you going to retire?" I reply, "To do what?"

The one thing I’ve done since I had my knee replaced last in February is that I am taking three days of the week to see a trainer for an hour. Yeah. I feel so much better now. So I’ve got to take a little bit time for that.

FAB: What kind of advice do you have for people who might look to get involved in the metals industry?

Simone: There's a great opportunity for these people, but they can't be impatient. They need to spend the time to learn about the business. If they want to go into sales, they can't start making a lot of money until they know what they are doing. They need to learn what we do and understand the equipment that we have.

And don't lie to people because it'll come back and haunt you. If you don't know the answer, tell them you don't know the answer. We’ll teach you the answer. Your customer will respect you if you do that.

FAB: Do you believe the advice that helped you build Target Steel is still relevant today?

Simone: I think it is. I think that people forget about that. Relationships are an important part of our industry.

It's like our commitments to the mills. When the market plummets and you’ve committed to 2,000 tons a month and you don't even need 500 tons, you’re still taking it. That's the commitment.

FAB: What's the most challenging part of the job now for Target Steel?

Simone: Right now, I think that the most challenging thing is getting the workforce back intact. We need them to come to work in not only the plants but in the offices.

It's getting better. But now that we have seven facilities and close to 400 employees, we want people to come to work for Target Steel.

When we took over these last three companies that were owned by SET Enterprises [in the beginning of 2021], I walked through the plant with the employees. It was amazing how they wanted to come and talk to us.

My brother Mike and I will walk through the plants and talk to the hi-lo driver and the crane operator. We aren't afraid to show our faces. We’re there, and they know we’re there. We’re committed to it.

FAB: When it comes to the future, do you see anything in the metals industry that needs to change?

Simone: In my opinion, the automotive companies have to get better at their scheduling and their release times because it causes unneeded pressures for us. Their forecasting and their scheduling has to get better.

We’re fortunate enough that we have this management information system that's awesome. We spent a lot of money on this system, and we wouldn't have gotten to this point without it. We can track part numbers. We can get an idea if a customer is not taking enough steel. It helps us in a lot of ways, but the automotive companies still need to get better at scheduling.

And don't forget the steel mills. They have to get better on deliveries.

FAB: What does it mean to you to be recognized as the Steel Executive of the Year by the Association of Steel Distributors?

Simone: It's awesome. It's also makes me emotional.

Some people expect things. I don't expect anything from anybody, you know?

Then I look at the people on this list who were honored before me. It's pretty impressive.

But then I sit down and think about what we’ve done, and we’ve done a lot. But it isn't just me. I’m getting credit for this, but without my team there's not Target Steel. It's kind of a nice way to honor everybody.

FAB: What do you see in the future for Target Steel?

Simone: We’re doing more and more with the automotive companies in the South, so we’re actively looking for a location in that area. We’d be looking to put a slitter in and maybe a couple presses in that facility. Adding more capacity recently with our blanking business and ramping up our customer diversification efforts has opened up a lot of new doors for us with a lot of new customers.

We’re also considering adding a company that's going to offer a little more value-added work. This would be outside of the automotive industry. That will help us diversify as well.

We’ve been focused on the Detroit area and the automotive industry for a long time. And our people have done a great job. Not too many people have shears and cut-to-length lines like we have. We can do pretty much anything that anybody needs done.

We’ve taken our equipment and brought it up so that it can run all these new grades of steel. Our machines can do a lot more than other people's.